How much do UFC referees earn?

Whilst it’s not a secret that some of the top UFC fighters earn millions, less is typically known about the salaries of UFC referees. It would be easy to assume that referees earn less than the fighters, their income is still pretty hard to judge. One reason for this is that the UFC is historically quite tight-lipped when it comes to discussing its finances.

You may be interested to learn about how much a typical MMA ref makes. According to some, these incomes are either quite good – or quite bad. Ultimately, this depends on your own perspective on wealth and who is deserving of their income.

UFC referees earn around $400-600 for a typical fight

Whilst there are some false reports out there that UFC referees can earn over $10,000 per event – the reality is that they earn much less. The reason for this is that the UFC doesn’t actually pay a ref, instead the state athletic commission does. There’s a big difference between the two and understanding this will help you realize why UFC refs don’t earn more.

Obviously, each state is different but a typical fight will bank a UFC ref around $600. In a typical UFC event, a single ref will do roughly three bouts, meaning they take home $1800 on average. Another thing worth noting is that typically undercard fights will also pay less than more important fights. Considering the hierarchy of MMA, this makes sense and is why you’re more likely to see inexperienced refs in the earlier fights.

Whilst this isn’t bad money when you break it down to an hourly wage – the main issue is that there’s not that much consistent work in terms of refereeing.

UFC referees can earn more for bigger fights

For the trilogy fight between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor, Herb Dean was reportedly paid $1900 for the single fight. This means that for this event, he may have earned over $3000. Depending on your perspective, that’s either a decent amount of money to earn in 10 minutes – or it’s not much considering he refereed one of the biggest fights of the year.

So, it’s not as simple as earning around $1800 per event. In some cases, the money can be closer to triple this if it’s a big PPV event where there’s a lot of money involved. In short, if a ref can get on a PPV and do the main event, they will earn more than refereeing Fight Night events or the undercard.

How much is a UFC referee’s salary?

If you’ve done the maths on the previous subject then you should have a vague estimation of how much a UFC referee earns. This really depends on how much they’re able to work, and the more fights they do – the more they get paid.

For instance, in 2020 the most consistent referee was Herb Dean. He refereed a total of 75 fights during this year which may have been more – but this was during Covid. If you do the sums, then this would mean that he took home around $45,000 that year. But, that’s not including the fact that he also managed some bigger fights, which may bring his yearly salary closer to $60,000.

Having said this, in 2020 Marc Goddard only refereed 35 fights. This would mean his salary was closer to $21,000. It should be noted that Goddard and Dean were at either end of the spectrum in terms of fights refereed. This will have been to do with Goddard living in England with restricted travel and Covid lockdowns playing havoc on his schedule. In a normal year – he would have been able to earn much more.

Do UFC referees earn more than non-UFC referees?

It goes without saying that the UFC is the pinnacle of MMA fighting and has more money involved compared to other organizations. However, as mentioned it isn’t the UFC that pays the referees, it’s the athletic state commission. This means a referee can earn substantially more by doing other gigs elsewhere.

For instance, Marc Goddard may referee a handful of fights on the UFC per year – but he can also referee elsewhere and does events such as KSW in Poland, and Cage Warriors in Britain. In terms of pay, he may receive a similar amount from these organizations as he would in the UFC.

So, it’s fair to say that his overall income could be double that of what is paid in the UFC when you add up his other work. Remember, MMA refs are not held down to a singular organization and it’s common to see many of the same guys refereeing for different companies such as UFC and Bellator.

MMA Referees can earn more doing other work

Whilst MMA referees put in the work and travel a lot, it’s also true that they have quite a bit of downtime. This downtime can be turned into a lucrative business if a referee has a good reputation and is savvy enough. For instance, both John McCarthy and Herb Dean own referee schools that can charge thousands for courses on how to referee MMA bouts. If you can charge $1000 per person and get a room full of 30 people per time, then this can quickly add up.

Having said this, most referees aren’t McCarthy or Herb Dean who are both top referees. Instead, many of the smaller, lesser-known referees will earn money from other ventures or even do regular part-time jobs on the side. If you have the spare time then you may as well.

UFC referees have their expenses paid for

Imagine Herb Dean needs to referee a UFC event in Germany. This would obviously cost a lot of money in terms of travel and accommodation due to traveling from the USA. The good news for UFC refs is that their expenses are paid for by the UFC so they don’t have to worry about costs whilst doing their job.

Imagine a referee earned $1300 for a night’s work. Now, imagine traveling to a far country to work and also a few day’s stay in a hotel. This fee may cost close to $1300, which means it would be a pointless journey. To counter this, the UFC understandably pays for their referee’s expenses which is fair enough.

How much do MMA judges earn?

Although MMA referees are in the public eye, MMA judges are often faceless and even if they make controversial calls, they naturally come under less scrutiny due to their anonymous nature. Anyway, MMA judges roughly earn a similar amount of money compared to a ref, but usually a little less. In this Reddit post, a supposed ex-state commissioner claimed that refs would get around $1200 per event and judges would earn around $900. Arguably, it’s better to be a judge as your work isn’t scrutinized compared to a referee. Another important thing to note is just how little MMA judges are paid in comparison to the importance of their work.

For instance, if you wanted to bribe a ref then it would be very difficult for them to throw a fight. This is because an MMA ref only has so much power or influence in a fight. However, if a fight went to a judge’s decision then it could easily be fixed. This isn’t to say or allude that MMA fights are fixed but is merely suggesting that judges could be paid more to stop potential bribes.

Conclusion

If you think UFC referees are millions then you’re sadly mistaken. At the same time, if you can build a good reputation for yourself then you can earn a comfortable amount from being a referee. The main benefit of being a top ref is that you also get a decent amount of spare time which you can spend on other projects or businesses.

In summary, being a UFC ref should earn you a decent salary and a lot of this depends on how much you’re willing to work. At the same time, being an elite ref isn’t anywhere near as lucrative as being a top UFC fighter.